The Tahquitch Maiden: A Tale of the San Jacintos

IT WAS a perfect August day in the San Jacinto Mountains. The morning dew still lay upon the grass, but the early mists which hover as benedictions over the heated lower plains, were unneeded in the cooler air of our highland camp; and the soft blue of the summer sky suggested only rest and comfort.

My hammock was swung under the centuried pines of Strawberry Valley. I had slipped away from the family tents on the pretense of reading theInferno; but the gentle soughing of the pines, the drowsy murmur of the flies which live even in mountain climes, and the subdued hum of my companion-campers’ voices threw me quite out of conceit with scenes of the lower world. My book fell from my hands, and my half-closed eyes followed unreproved my wandering thoughts.

Flecks of white cloud now floated in the air, now touched the summits of the range surrounding us, and brought out with amazing distinctness the dim outlines of hill and peak. Huge Tahquitch looked benignly down, and I could almost fancy that I saw the hoary head of old San Jack from above the line of intervening hills.

Suddenly I heard a sharp “Hello” from the direction of the kitchen camp, followed by Tom’s generous “Howdy” in reply. Turning my head I saw an alert individual in jeans and sombrero, with a dreary-looking pony grazing at his side. The man was talking eagerly, flinging his stalwart arm in the direction of the mountain whither my vagrant thoughts had just been turning.

“Can he be the discoverer of a new mine?” I wondered lazily. “Or perhaps a peddler of curios? Well, he shall not disturb me!” and I settled back into my hammock and took up my book with sudden energy. But Cousin Tom had spied me peering over my pillow, and in a moment he and his merry young wife and Cousin Mollie closed about my swinging couch.

“Oh, we’ve such a splendid chance to go to San Jacinto peak tomorrow!” they cried in a breath. And Cousin Mollie added, “It is the one trip needed to make this the happiest summer on record. How ridiculous that we ever thought of going home without making it!”

Then Tom went on: “The whole affair takes only three days; the trail is as easy as a floor, the guide says, and the expense just nothing at all!” And when I did not answer, “Why do you look so glum? You didn’t suppose we meant to leave you, did you? Of course you are going with us.” And the girls echoed, “Of course, of course!”